Metal-rolling process and mill.



No. 897,931. I Q PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1908. M. RUTHENBURG-.-

METAL ROLLING" PROCESS AND MILL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FZGZI WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

Nb. 897,931. PATENTED SEPT. a, 1908.

- M. RUTHENBURG.

METAL ROLLING PROCESS AND MILL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.14, 1905. 1

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

I; ran s ArE-s PATENT OFFICE.

' MARCUS nurnmrnuneg or Loc xrom. NEW YORK}.

'miranaomme PROCESS AND Specification of Letters Patent;

ifatentbdfiept; a, .1908.

Application filed August 14, 1905, Serial 18o. 274,021.

" To allwlwm it may concern:

' State Be itkno'wn that I, Masons Ru'rnnununs, of. Lock ort, in the county of Nia am and f lfiew York,.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal- Rolling Processes and Mills, whereof the --followin is a specification, reference being hadto t e accom' anying drawings.

' My invention re atesto processes and mills for rolling articles of clrcular. cross lsectlon,

' g and of the class wherein the article is rolled with its axis "parallel with'the axes of the mill rolls.- -Asheretofore constructed it has been im oss lble'to roll with such mills, articles 0f-' ifferent diameters at different por-- -'tions of their'length, as car axles, because the torsional jstrain's produced by the tendency of the mill rolls to rotate the articles at different speeds at their different-diameters are sufficient to fracture the articles.

' l Therefore, it is the object of my invention v extending beyon to provide a mill capable of rolling articles of the character specified, without .the production of detrimental strains- As hereinafter described, my inventio 1 comprises a mill havinga' group of rolls dis- =posed on three ara-llel axes surrounding the article to be rol ed, and one'of said rolls comprises sections of different diameters, capable ofimdependent rotation so as to permit such relative slip of the rolls and the articles rolled as to prevent any detrimental torsional strains in the latter.

As described said sectional roll is adjustable with respect to the other-two rolls, so as to permit of the insertion of the billet which is to form the rolled article, and the gradual reduction of the latter to'the desired, size and form! My invention comprises the various novel features of procedure, construction and arrarkligement. hereinafter more definitely speci; fie i In the drawings, Figure I, is a longitudinal sectional view of a mill conveniently mbodying my improvements, taken on th line 1,

Lin Fig. II. Fig. H, is a transverse sec' tional view of said mill, taken on the line-II, II, in Fig. I. y A

In said figures; the housing,1',-comprises the bearings 2, and 3', for the rolls 4, and 5, and the latter is rovided with the shaft 7, (i said housing 1, to engage Tsuitable driving mechanism.- Said shaft 7, is provided with the gears 9, engaged with the .55' gears' 10,.on the countershaft 12, which is [mounted to rotate in the bearings 13, in said housing 1. Said, gears-:10, engage correaforesaid. Said housing 1, comprises the vertical slide bearings 20, at its'opposite ends,

, for the bearing boxes.21-, which carry the shaft 23, of the roll comprising the sections 24, 25, 26, 27,'an d 28. ,As shownin Fi I, said section 24, is centrally fixedon said-*s aft looselycarried. on said shaft 23, in pairs,

of said section 24. aidjbearing boxes 21,

screw shafts 31, which are mounted to rotate in the housing 1, and provided with the gears 33, connected by the ear 34, so as to be simultaneouslyrotate Said gear 34, is mounted on t e shaft 85-, provided with .the

"uncut may be conveniently effected to raise and lower said boxes 21.

follows:The roll, provided with the Shea 23, and com risingthe sections 24, toi 2'8 inhousing 1,.b'y rotation of the hand wheel 36',

sectional roll andthe rolls 4, and 5, to admit ahot billet of suflicient mass to form the axle -40. Said billet being shorter than saidhxle; is rotated by frictionalengagementbetween the rolls 4, and 5, and the sectional roll, while the latter is-graduall lowered in the housing, and thereb said bifiet has its fibers distributed helica y in the axle 40,. from the central.

to flow from the centers of the opposite ends thereof, but would be piped, 'i. (2., caused to flow outwardly as a hollow shell havinglits I outer surfacecoincident with the diameter of spo'nding gears 15, 011 the shaft 16, oftheroll. 4, so that said rolls 4, and :5, may be posi-' tively' rotated at the same speed by the driv- ,ing'means" connected with the; shaft 7 ,"as

23, and the'sections '25, to 28 inclusiveyaredisposed vequidistantl upon opposite sidescomprise screw sockets 30, engaged with the hand wheel 36, byiwhich its rotary move The mill above describedis operated as until sufficient space is afforded between said.

section 24, of said rolloutwardly, so 'as'to' of the axle journal flanges '42, the surplus metal from the axle 40, would not be forced elusive, as a ove described, is. raised in the I the axle. journal flanges 42, the hollow thereof starting from points representing the origi-' nal length oft e billet. Therefore, said roll sections 28, perform'the double function of formin the end surfaces of the axle'flanges 42, an compelling the flow of the metal in solid for'm throughout the length of the axle and the trunnions 45, thus preventing the formation 'of flaws at the ends of the axle.

It is to be understood that said trunnions of.

surplus metal 45, may be of greater or less extent in accordance" with slight variations in the uantity of metal in the billet, and, are fina y severed from the axle adjoining said flanges 42;,leaving the axle accurately shaped and finished to the. desired dimen sions", determined by the configuration ofthe rolls employed. 4 e

It'may be here stated that the present invention is the result of ractical experience, I having first attemptej toroll axles with a mill com rising three rolls arranged as indicated in ig. II, but without relatively movable sections. Being unable to roll an axle with such a mill without breaking the axle, I lubricated the billet so that it could slip,

and found that this relievedthe torsion uponthe billet.

I then fitted the upper roll with relatively movable sections where the breaks had occurred in the axles made with the solid rolls and was then able to roll axles without breaking them. However, .the rolls at the ends of the millbeing of such diameter as to contact with the circumference of the "ournal flanges of the axle, the axles made t erewith were iped or hollow as aforesaid. I then provi ed the mill with relatively movable sections 28, which forced the metal of the billet to flow solidly to and beyond the ends of the axle. Therefore, I do not claim to be first to construct a three roll mill for the purpose described but believe that I am the first to provide such a mill capable of rolling axles Without breaking themor-piping the ends thereof. v

I may add that I found in practice thatalthough the two lower rolls 4 and 5 shown in Fig. II, are 'rigid throughout their length, their twisting effect upon the axle 40, which lies between them is ractically negligible, said rolls forming in 'ei ect merely a die bed' opposed to the action of the movable upper roll. It may be observed that said lower rolls 4 and 5, tend to drive the axle throughout its length, and that the upper roll presses the axle throughout its length but does not set up opposing strains because different sections are" separately rotatable being free to make what speed the billet requires, and allowing the billet to slip on the lower-solid rolls.

Although I have found it convenient to employ a single sectional roll and to provide means to adjust it toward and away from the essential features of my invention.

I claim 1. In a rolling mill, the combination with a roll having loose rings, of a roll having positively driven zones opposed to said loose rings.

2. In a rolling mill, the combination with a ing positively drivenzones respectively oposed to said loose rings; said rolls comprisretain the article to be rolled.

roll having zones of different diameters; of a roll having loose rings opposed to said zones, and, loose rings respectively overlapping the end zones.

4. In a rolling mill, the combination with ters forming a bed to'retain the articleto be rolled; of a roll having loose rings opposed to said zones, and, loose rings respectively overlappin the end zones. I

' 5. T e process which'consists in confining a heated billet at its ends, except for a limited ansion, and subjecting it throughout its ength to the action of a transversely operating rolling and reducing means and reducing it while the outer portions of the ends are thus confined and while the said limited area about the axis is unconfined.

consists in reducing by rolling transversely with respect to its axis a heated metal billet, while restricting the longitudinal flow of the metal at the outer portion of the ends of said billet to the length of theprospective axle, "and at the same time leaving the central portions-of the said ends unconfined; whereby the sur lus metal is forced toward the center of the illet and thence axially outward berolling progresses.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Lockport, in-the countv of Niagara and State of New York, this 19th day of July 1905.

MARCUS RUTHENBURG."

\Vitnesses J. FRANK SMITH,

CHARLOTTE E. SPALDING.

made therein without departing from the.

-6. The process of forming a car axle, which yond the restricted regions thereof as theroll having loose rings; of two rolls compris I mg positively driven zones forminga bed to 3. In a rolling mill, the combination with a two rolls comprising zones of different diame area around its axis, against longitudinal ex- 

